Vatican City, March 04 (HS): Pope Francis rested early Tuesday after he suffered further setbacks in his fight against double pneumonia: two new acute respiratory crises that required him to resume using noninvasive mechanical ventilation to breathe.

In its early Tuesday update, the Vatican said: “The pope slept through the night, now rest continues.”

Francis suffered the two crises on Monday. Doctors extracted “copious” amounts of mucus that had accumulated in his lungs, the Vatican said in a late update. They performed two bronchoscopies, in which a camera-tipped tube was sent into his airways with a sucker at the tip to suction out fluid.

According to Vatican News, the Holy See Press Office said that Pope Francis faced extreme difficulty in breathing due to mucus accumulation. The Holy See Press Office said in a health update released on Monday evening, Today, the Holy Father had difficulty breathing twice. This situation arose due to excessive mucus accumulation in the lungs. Two bronchoscopies were done to remove mucus. This is not a new infection, so there is nothing to worry about. Accumulation of mucus is only a result of pneumonia.”

The Holy See Press Office admitted in the update that an attempt was made to remove the accumulated mucus to eliminate bacteria. The medical condition of 88-year-old Pope Francis remains complicated. The 18th day was very painful for Francis, admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. He has resumed the use of oxygen mask. Despite a slight improvement in his condition last week, he suffered a shock due to bronchospasm on Friday. Due to this, he had to use non-invasive mechanical ventilation.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar